Category Archives: Government

Olympic Crackdowns

August 7, 2008 – 8:16 am

Who thought it would be a good idea to let a brutal, repressive regime host the Olympics? As the Olympics kick off, we should all take a close look at what passes for “security” in the Chinese world: The Beijing government, for starters, has denied visas to businessmen, backpackers, and middle-aged tourists holding Olympics [...]

By Joe Martin | Also posted in Reporting | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Baldwin Blames the Feds

July 11, 2008 – 10:08 am

As you may have heard on the news, Wisconsin experienced some pretty severe flooding last month. Shortly after the rains subsided, I received Congresswoman Baldwin’s monthly e-mail update. She included this quote: Our entire state Congressional delegation sent a letter to President Bush last Friday asking him to respond quickly to any requests Governor Doyle makes [...]

By Joe Martin | Also posted in Politics | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Can Anyone Ban Handguns?

June 27, 2008 – 12:21 pm

The Heller decision was a big win for the 2nd Amendment: it established that citizens do have a right to own guns. Unfortunately, that decision only applies to the federal government. What about the states? It will take a new court case — and a new decision — to establish whether or not the 2nd [...]

By Joe Martin | Also posted in Law | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Perverting Justice

April 7, 2008 – 9:43 pm

In America, are we ruled by men or by laws? Theoretically, we’re ruled by laws — everyone is under the law and no one escapes justice. In practice, that’s not true. And the very people who are charged with enforcing the law are often the first to ignore the law. Take the traffic laws for instance: [...]

By Joe Martin | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Don’t Attack My Mike’s!

February 29, 2008 – 5:05 pm

No More Mike’s Hard Lemonades For Me: OK, perhaps it is a guilty pleasure, but I enjoy downing a couple of Mike Hard Lemonade’s on a hot afternoon. Now, it seems, the Food Nazi’s at the Center for Science in the Public Interest want to stop me.Public Citizen’s blog announced that CSPI plans to [...]

By Joe Martin | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Another Out of Control Cop

January 31, 2008 – 5:42 pm

I don’t trust police officers. Here’s another story illustrating why: Unfortunately, Arizona Sheriffs, including our own egregious Joe Arpaio here in Phoenix, still have a wild west mentality: On the night of July 29, 2007, Dibor Roberts, a Senegalese-born American citizen living in Cottonwood, Arizona, was driving [...]

By Joe Martin | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Do You Have Your eBay License?

January 31, 2008 – 5:22 pm

How’s this for economic freedom: The state of Pennsylvania has shut down the eBay business of Mary Jo Pletz, who started the endeavor so she could earn money at home while caring for daughter, who had developed a brain tumor. Not content with merely running her out of business, state officials [...]

By Joe Martin | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Banned for Your Own Good

January 17, 2008 – 10:42 am

The city of Madison believes that if it limits your freedom it can truly make you safer. Next up on their agenda: plastic water bottles. The city of Madison, enamored of bans on everything from smoking to phosphorus fertilizers, may be setting its regulatory sights on another target — plastic. In [...]

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Another Dumb Poker Raid

January 14, 2008 – 11:59 pm

Since when did playing poker become illegal? Another Dumb Poker Raid: Police in San Mateo County, California apparently first spent months investigating the small-stakes poker game. From this firsthand account, it looks like a couple of the officers were playing regularly for several weeks before sending in the SWAT team, guns drawn, last week. [...]

By Joe Martin | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Fear Chinese imports

December 3, 2007 – 4:35 am

Well, the Chinese have stopped even pretending concern for the welfare of the foreign peoples to whom they export. As if shipping potentially hazardous tires, dolls, wooden art sets, and even faulty fortune cookies wasn’t enough, now they’re selling people missiles. But Saudi Arabia, a country so renowned for being concerned with safety that it [...]

By Adam Volle | Also posted in Foreign Policy, Humor, Philosophy | Tagged , | Comments (0)